• Vincent Brown caught passes short, medium and long, against a variety of defenders. Brown, who suffered a season-ending broken ankle last August, said he's regained full speed and explosiveness. When the ball is in in the air, Brown is closing on it faster than the defensive backs are.

• Philip Rivers threw tight spirals and looked sharper than he did when mini camp began Tuesday. Mike McCoy, meantime, continues to predict a big bounceback season from Rivers, saying he will have a "phenomenal" year.

• The Chargers opened in a no-huddle offense. Rivers then began with a screen pass to Ryan Mathews. When the ball bounced off Mathews' left hand, Rivers encouraged him three times to catch the next one. He did. The no-huddle wasn't the only speedy aspect of practice, or other practices. Veteran players said there's less down time between drills than under Norv Turner or other coaches. (They weren't knocking Norv or the others).

• Rookie Keenan Allen saw extra duty with the first team, as veterans were held outwith minor ailments. Allen looked comfortable working as a slot receiver, his primary position at Cal. Still on the comeback trail from a knee injury that ended his 2012 season, Allen said he'll be faster when we see him again in training camp.

• After practice, Mike McCoy had the positional units run a series of 50-yard sprints. Sprints aren't unusual, but a few Chargers veterans said the timed sprints after practice were a new experience. Eric Weddle breezed. So did Richard Goodman, among several others. Dwight Freeney lagged, but as the seven-time Pro Bowler said last week, he hadn't revved up his offseason workouts. He has a tried-and-true training routine that he said he'll carry out in coming weeks, after doing some "sand dune" sprints in Los Angeles. Freeney, 33, got through the mini camp healthy. That's the most important thing.

• The sprints didn't exhaust rookie cornerback Steve Williams and second-year running back Edwin Baker, who afterward challenged each other to a 40-yard dash, witnessed by dozens of teammates. Baker won. Easily.